* Mines Wellness Hotel , Mines Resort city, Sri Kembangan/Balakong

I came across an interesting hotel located in the Sri Kembangan/Balakong region (only 20 min drive from Kuala Lumpur). This hotel is not a 5 star or luxury hotel but it does boast of magnificent, breathtaking view as it is built bordering a beautiful lake (a former tin mine). As the name suggests it offers many wellness packages most of which are traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) based. 

This is the main hotel facade. It is located just one block away from The Mines Shopping Mall, the only mall in Malaysia with a water canal running through.

Displayed at the lobby are pictures of traditional Chinese herbs used in various treatment offered by the hotel. 

The hotel has a very spacious and extensive lobby. The receptionist was helpful and obliging when I asked for a chalet with a good view.

Christmas decor is seen displayed in the hotel lobby even though Christmas is long over.

The lobby lounge overlooks a beautiful lake and commands a good view of the skyline of Sri Kembangan/ Serdang area.

There is a creative display of "money" plants grown in small glass vases near the lobby entrance.

There are a few types of accommodation. We stayed on the upper floor of the 'Chalet'. 

Also available are the rooms (picture above) and the suites which are a larger version of the chalets.

The chalet is quite spacious and has wooden panel flooring. 

 empty cabinet and shelves.

a king-sized bed

free internet access

a mini bar and an old TV

a safety box

The room balcony

The washroom comes with a bathtub, very basic toiletries (only soap, shampoo/body bath but no toothbrush,comb, hairdryer etc).

The cleanliness is satisfactory.

The maintenance of the place is not tip-top. The sink is very seasoned with permanent scratches.

The door to the chalet is also seasoned and in need of a coat of paint.

This newspaper holder outside our room is just for show as we did not receive the daily papers.

Some wooden parts on our balcony and banister have rot due to termites but the job of patching up looks shabby.

There are 3 F&B outlets, the largest being  Abdul & Charlies. Our room comes with breakfast.

The F&B team was not very professional at handling a large breakfast crowd. There was no vacant table when we came in at 9.30am. Can't help but noticed the sluggishness of the staff in cleaning and clearing the vacant tables. Tables were also not properly set and the food was very average.

There is a man-made beach and a lagoon pool in the hotel. The lagoon pool is also the swimming pool for the hotel guests.

Nice to look at from far but far from appealing when you are there is the way I would describe this man-made beach.

There is a man-made waterfall and another pool just beside the lagoon pool.

There is a cave-like passageway behind the waterfall that leads you to another part of the beach.

This is the beach bordering the lake. There are water taxis that stop by to ferry hotel guests to the shopping mall (RM8 per way). The hotel also organises mini cruises for interested guests. (Pay Service)

Pier for water taxis

Water taxis will drop passengers at The Mines Shopping Mall.

 You can also walk to the shopping mall from the hotel as it is just 1 block away (5-10 min walk)

There is a mini-gym in the hotel with only 5 machines.

These are some of the beautiful views taken from our room/beach/lobby area.

This is another nearby hotel called Palace of the Golden Horses (see my earlier posting for photos and reviews).

There may be flaws but we did enjoy our stay here. The convenience of a nearby mall, and the nice view kind of made up for the setback.